Secret Game
by StillThereForMe
Summary: After another big win against the West High Knights, the team goes out to celebrate at the diner. Yet Chad, the Wildcats' second best player, stays behind in the locker room feigning a headache as the reason. Why? He's got another game to play. Chyan!
1. Secrets and Friendships

**_August 18, 2007 Update:_ _No real story or chapters updated, just fixed a bunch of typos and words that were lost/scrambled when the chapters were uploaded originally (no one mentioned them except my sister, they were just bugging me!)._**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own High School Musical or it's characters. I'm just playing with them in a way Disney would never allow if I did own them.

**Pairing**: Chyan. And the lack of Chyan fics was the single reason for writing this.

**Warning: **Rated M for a reason. Slash or boyxboy romance is happening in this fic. Again, nobody's pants come completely off, so I don't believe I'm breaking any rules, but it does get fairly detailed enough to warrant an M rating.

**A/N**: The fact that there are only 11 Chyan fics to my knowledge was the sole motivation for writing this one-shot (which has been split into three parts purely for the convience of the reader not having to read 22 pages in one sitting), even though I'm in the middle of writing a fairly long fic with this pairing already. The plot is mostly romance, although I did throw Troy and Chad's friendship in there for a bit of angst too because I can't write pure fluff or slash for that matter. But it's mostly just ChadxRyan to hopefully encourage some more authors to write the pairing.

* * *

**Secret Game**

**By: **StillThereForMe

**Part 1/3**

* * *

"WHOOO!!" Troy screamed as the Wildcats ran back into the locker room after winning yet another match against the West High Knights. "Awesome game guys!" 

His teammates shouted various agreements as they ran to their lockers and started changing (or squirting their water bottles at each other). Various bangs on metal and yells rang throughout the red painted room, along with the typical chanting of "WHAT TEAM? WILDCATS! WHAT TEAM? WILDCATS! WHAT TEAM? WILDCATS! WILDCATS! GET'CHA HEAD IN THE GAME!"

The one exception to this merriment was a certain big haired, normally overconfident player who was well-known as the playmaker's best friend. Chad was slouched over on one of the benches in front of his locker, barely responding to the slaps on his back and hi-five's his teammates were giving him.

It wasn't until Troy, fully changed into his street clothes and ready to leave, came over to congratulate him that his odd behavior was noticed.

"Yo, Chad, great game!" Troy energetically gave his friend a hi-five, which Chad met weakly. "Hey, Chad, are you alright?" The Wildcats' star moved to sit next to his friend, still in his basketball jersey. "You were the first one in the lockers and I think you're the last one to get changed. Even Jason's just about ready." Troy hit Chad playfully in the arm. "Come on, everyone's going to head out to the diner to celebrate. On my dad, so get dressed!"

"Nah man, I don't think I'm gonna go." Chad mumbled, staring at the floor.

"What are you talking about?" Troy laughed, thinking his friend was joking. "Okay, I know for a fact that _Taylor's_ going to be there. She's probably only going to see you." Troy elbowed the slouching boy. "Now, come on. Get your clothes on so we can go." The playmaker stood, expecting Chad to get ready.

"No, I think I'm just going to head home. I don't feel that good." Chad looked up at his friend with a serious frown.

"Are you going to be okay?" Troy's face immediately turned to concern as he sat back down. "You need to see the nurse? She's probably still outside if I run out and catch her…"

"No, no that's okay. It's just a headache mostly; I think I just need to go to bed. I'll be fine." Chad ran his fingers through his curly hair and rested his head on hands.

"Do you want my dad to drop you off at your house before we head to the diner?" Troy asked, resting a hand on his best friend's back.

"Nah, they always say fresh air's good for this type of stuff right?" Chad shook his head. "I'm just going to walk home. I don't want to hold you guys up."

"You sure? It's really not a problem." Troy persisted.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Go have fun. I'll talk to you tomorrow okay?" Chad encouraged with a nod.

"Okay…just be careful walking home in the dark okay?" Troy warned as he stood.

"Yes mom! I promise I'll be careful." Chad teased. "Bye Troy."

"See you later." Troy laughed as he left.

Chad waited for a few minutes more as the rest of his team emptied out of the locker room yelling their goodbyes. He stood up and pulled off his jersey and threw it into his locker. He stretched his arms above his head, listening to the silence of the room. He let out a soft groan as he let his arms fall down to his sides. He distantly thought he heard a door open, and wrote it off as probably Jason finally leaving. Chad sat back down on the bench and stretched his neck back, eyes closed.

"Nice…" Chad turned his head with a smile to see the familiar body he'd been waiting for, leaning at the end of the row of lockers. "…game. Although I have to say, I still really don't get basketball at all. You guys did win, right?"

"Well, that would explain the cheerleaders going nuts, the crazy screaming in the audience, and lifting Troy onto our shoulders again." Chad smirked at the lean boy walking over to him.

"He heavy…?" The pale boy asked curiously as he paused behind the seated basketball player.

"Not real—ohhh, that feels good Ryan…" Chad moaned gratefully as the Drama King started massaging his shoulders and the back of his neck. "Thank you _soo_ much…"

Ryan softly chuckled at the dark boy turning to putty under his hands. "God, your skin is wet...is this all from sweat?" The blond asked as he gripped the warm dark skin tighter, not at all disgusted but only curious.

"No…the guys were just squirting some water bottles after the game." Chad groaned, leaning his head over to the side to give Ryan more room to work with and closing his eyes.

"Why…?" Ryan laughed, leaning over and placing his head right next to the darker boy's.

"…I have no idea." Chad answered after thinking a moment. He then spun around on the bench to face Ryan with a grin. "Just releasing energy I guess."

The Male Diva stepped back and leaned against the lockers behind him, staring at Chad with an amused look on his face, arms crossed. "Jocks are so weird."

"Well what do _you_ drama geeks do after a show?" Chad demanded with a laugh.

"We don't squirt water afterwards, that's for sure. Someone would slip on the stage or whatever later." Ryan countered before pausing for a minute. "Our dressing rooms don't smell this bad either." The blond grinned.

"Hey, watch it musical boy," Chad warned as he stood and walked over to the blue-eyed boy, placing a hand on either side of his head. "Or else…"

"Or else what?" Ryan asked curiously, with an eyebrow raised.

Chad stared seriously at the other boy right in the eye, before he burst out laughing. "I don't know, I didn't think that far ahead."

"I'm not surprised." The Drama King commented, nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders and turned his head to look away smugly.

"Okay that's it!" Chad grabbed the blond's hips and tugged the boy close, slipping his right hand under the back of the drama king's shirt as he kissed him hard. "You really are too confidant for your own good."

"What did you tell Troy?" Ryan suddenly whispered, as he made his way up the darker boy's neck.

"Headache. Wanted to go home." Chad replied in a low voice, enjoying the closeness of the blonde pressed against his body. He then leaned into speak directly into Ryan's ear. "What'd you tell Sharpay?"

"Wanted to rehearse on my own in the auditorium." The theatre boy mumbled as he kissed the side of the other's cheek, enjoying the feel of Chad's hands rubbing up his bare back. "She's hanging out with Zeke and Troy, she won't be checking in any time soon."

"That's what I like to hear." Chad grinned, tilting Ryan's chin up to kiss him deeply, and brought his other hand down to push their hips together.

* * *

More slashy scenes coming next! Please don't forget to review. Reviews make better fics. 


	2. Playing the Game

**Pairing**: Chyan. And the lack of Chyan fics was the single reason for writing this.

**Warning: **Rated M for a reason. Slash or boyxboy romance is happening in this fic. Again, nobody's pants come completely off, so I don't believe I'm breaking any rules, but it does get fairly detailed enough to warrant an M rating.

**A/N**: The fact that there are only 11 Chyan fics to my knowledge was the sole motivation for writing this one-shot (which has been split into three parts purely for the convience of the reader not having to read 22 pages in one sitting), even though I'm in the middle of writing a fairly long fic with this pairing already. The plot is mostly romance, although I did throw Troy and Chad's friendship in there for a bit of angst too because I can't write pure fluff or slash for that matter. But it's mostly just ChadxRyan to hopefully encourage some more authors to write the pairing.

* * *

**Secret Game**

**By**: StillThereForMe

**Part 2/3**

* * *

_"What did you tell Troy?" Ryan suddenly whispered, as he made his way up the darker boy's neck. _

_"Headache. Wanted to go home." Chad replied in a low voice, enjoying the closeness of the blonde pressed against his body. He then leaned into speak directly into Ryan's ear. "What'd you tell Sharpay?"_

_"Wanted to rehearse on my own in the auditorium." The theatre boy mumbled as he kissed the side of the other's cheek, enjoying the feel of Chad's hands rubbing up his bare back. "She's hanging out with Zeke and Troy, she won't be checking in any time soon."_

_"That's what I like to hear." Chad grinned, tilting Ryan's chin up to kiss him deeply, and brought his other hand down to push their hips together._

* * *

"Wait!" Ryan groaned softly, reluctantly pushing the other back slightly. "Are you sure everyone's gone?" 

"Can't I just say yes?" Chad pleaded, not wanting to check.

"If you don't mind someone walking in and finding out, then sure." Ryan whispered sarcastically.

"Well, a little danger's always fun, right?" The basketball player grinned and pushed the boy against the lockers, pressed up against him, and started kissing the blond's neck.

"I don't know whether to call you lazy or perverted…" Ryan laughed, stringing his fingers into Chad's curly hair to hold the other's head as he licked a sensitive spot under Ryan's ear. When the darker teen started to nibble on the skin, a gasp was forced from the blond. "Oh, that feels good…"

"That's why I did it." Chad chuckled appreciatively, making sure his warm breath brushed against the lighter teen's skin.

He looked up at Ryan's face—eyes shut, cheeks flushed, and mouth open. Chad could feel his chest beneath the silky shirt rising and falling against his bare chest with each breath the boy was taking. The black and red striped cap on the blond's head was sitting at an odd angle, and casting a small shadow darkening Ryan's forehead and part of his face. Chad grabbed the hat and tossed it onto the bench behind them. The pale boy's eyes opened confused.

"What are you doing?" He breathed as Chad's hand went up to cup his cheek.

"Just like looking at you…" The basketball player smiled and ran his left hand through the messy short blond hair that was almost always hidden under some sort of hat.

"Now that's a clichéd and corny line." Ryan criticized with a grin, bringing his arms back down to settle on the taller boy's shoulders.

"Hey, it's called trying to be romantic!" Chad pouted and gently brought Ryan's wrists down against the lockers and held them there in mock anger.

Ryan shook his head and put on a serious face. "It doesn't suit you."

"There's just no pleasing you, is there?" The darker boy moved his face closer to the blond, but was unlike the theatre boy, Chad wasn't able to continue pretending he was upset, and began chuckling after a few seconds.

The Drama King calmly smirked "I do have pretty high standards."

Chad's mouth dropped open in shock. "And I don't meet them?"

Ryan's eyes darted over to the side as he pretended to think. "Well…your kissing could use some improvement."

Chad chuckled dryly in disbelief. "You are really walking on thin ice now…"

The blond boy raised an eyebrow challengingly and stated seriously "would you like to try and prove me wrong?"

For a moment, Chad could only stare as the words sunk in, before breaking out in a large grin. "Oh, and _I'm _the perverted one?"

"Yes, you are." Ryan smirked proudly at the other. "And I'm the subtle one."

"Sure…" He replied sarcastically.

Chad moved in to kiss the conceited blond, but was interrupted by a loud sudden crashing sound. The boys whipped their heads to the walkway, but didn't see anyone or hear anything else. The locker room had become eerily quiet. Since most of the lights were off, the shadows made the lockers look an almost bloody dark red, and combined with wire-netting behind them, made the scene rather reminiscent of some slasher horror movie. Of course Chad was just thinking this now, after they'd already planned this meeting here a week ago.

In a way their situation was like that, Chad supposed, a horror movie. Nobody knew about the two of them, not even Troy or Sharpay—and to tell the truth, neither Ryan nor Chad really wanted to tell them either. Aside from the fact that they both enjoyed the idea of a "secret relationship" and the privacy that came with it (only ever getting together after games like this, or in Ryan's locked dressing room during the day, or when partnering on a project behind their bedroom doors), neither boy was looking that forward to the backlash they'd get for _revealing_ the relationship they had. If someone did find out, the outcome would probably have a horror movie ending.

Chad, especially would have a lot of problems with the team turning on him, along with his parents who he was well aware wouldn't accept him as gay (his uncle had been completely disowned when he came out—Chad didn't even know about him until his aunt accidentally mentioned him at one of their barbeques a year or two ago), possibly losing major college scholarships or getting kicked off the basketball team completely, getting ostracized and ridiculed by the entire school because he certainly didn't have the popularity like Troy for everyone to just support him on matter what, and not to mention the fact that Chad was well aware of the rivalry that existed between Ryan and Troy—even if Troy by some miracle was okay with him being gay, he wouldn't be okay with Chad dating Ryan.

It was a bit of a lesser risk for Ryan, although Chad was sure that if the team found out Ryan would become an even bigger target for the fact that the simple-minded jocks would blame Ryan for turning their friend gay. Chad was sure of this, because if he hadn't been the one dating Ryan, Chad would think the same way. Plus, Sharpay wasn't exactly best friends with Chad either, so she might not be so supportive of the couple either. And everyone knew that if Sharpay wasn't on your side, you were in for a lot of trouble. That went double if you lived in the same house as her.

And of course, the last place where they wanted to be found out would be in a dark locker room after school was out on a Friday. Where nobody would be checking the location until Monday morning and there was lots and lots of metal everywhere, along with nice hard tiled floors underfoot. Why had Chad suggested meeting here again? Oh right, because he was an idiot.

"Wait here." Chad whispered to Ryan, who just nodded and pretended he was invisible as the darker boy walked over towards the corner of the row of lockers.

The basketball player looked up and down the walkway, very slowly, Charlie's Angels style. He walked towards the entrance of the room first, paying careful attention to the shadows (that this late looked like they were moving but were just his eyes playing tricks) down each row of dark red lockers, but didn't see anything strange. He ducked into the showers—but the place seemed completely empty. He went back up the walkway, and when Ryan saw him pass by, the blond went to the front of the row to watch Chad check the back of the room. Two more rows of lockers, and then in the very back to Coach Bolton's room. The coach's door was long since locked, so it was highly doubtful anyone was in there. The spy-wannabe checked the doorknob anyway, but like expected found it locked.

Puzzled, he walked back, looking in the last rows again, but this time something caught his eye. On the floor of the second to last row was Jason's backpack, not-so-coincidentally under Jason's open locker. Jason could never remember his combination, and so stopped using locks halfway through freshman year. Judging from the textbooks and random papers all over the floor, the crash they'd heard was probably his teammate's badly balanced (and probably over-packed) backpack falling out of his gym locker. Why Jason had even brought his backpack to the game, Chad had no idea. But then, Jason did a lot of weird things.

"What is it?" Ryan's voice asked curiously from behind him.

"I think it was Jason's backpack falling out of his locker." Chad answered without looking, currently feeling like an idiot for getting freaked out about a backpack.

He heard Ryan's soft footsteps walk up closer to him, as Chad continued to study Jason's sloppily scribbled papers on the floor. Leaning against the side of a locker, he was debating on whether to put them all back in the bag since Jason was his friend, leave them there since technically Chad wasn't supposed to still be here anyway, or dump them all in the garbage can because that evil backpack had made a fool of him…

"So, nobody else is in here? We're still alone?" Ryan double checked, from directly behind the taller boy.

"Yup." Chad sighed, about to turn around when he felt the pale boy slip his thin arms around Chad's waist.

"That's what I like to hear." The Drama King whispered Chad's own words from earlier directly into his ear, and then Ryan unexpectedly slid a hand into his red basketball shorts.

"_Wow,_ you are sneaky…" Chad moaned loudly, bending over a little as Ryan's skilled fingers quickly went to work.

"Thank you." Ryan mumbled against Chad's neck, before whispering in his ear again. "Although I think you're just oblivious."

"You're really picking on me today." Chad complained panting, turning his head to see the blond's face. "And I'm not that oblivious. I notice you're still wearing all your clothes and that's giving you an unfair advantage here."

"Actually, you already threw off my hat, so I'm not wearing all my clothes." Ryan argued.

"Hats don't count." Chad snorted, before biting back another groan as Ryan tugged harder on him.

"They do too!" Ryan pulled away from the darker boy insulted, too late realizing he'd been tricked.

"Yes!" Freed from the teasing hand, Chad quickly spun around and had the blond once again pinned against the red lockers. "Danforth once again takes the lead!" He grinned, face still flushed, imitating a sports announcer happily. He took a moment to actually study the clothes he was itching to be able to finally rip off the slim dancer. A fitted red button-down shirt with some fancy yellow designs going all over it, and tight white pants which he noticed a slight bulge that Ryan's calm façade obviously couldn't control. As corny as the Drama King would probably think it was if he said it aloud, Chad couldn't help but feel proud that he was the one causing that feeling in Ryan. "I love these button-down shirts." Chad grinned instead, and quickly went to start unbuttoning the said garment (which he childishly found extremely fun to do for some reason).

"Wait," Ryan's had shot out to grip the other boy's wrist to stop him after he already had undone two of the white buttons, forcing the boy to look up confused at him. "Did you notice the colors? Red, white, and gold?"

Chad caught on suddenly, and was quickly grinning again. "Go Wildcats! Thanks for the support."

"You're welcome," The blond nodded obviously proud of himself for thinking to wear the school's signature colors to the game. "And did you see the back?"

"The back?" Chad repeated suspiciously, apparently having not noticed.

"Yeah," Ryan turned around, revealing the back of the shirt's complicated swirly yellow lines' design making a much clearer picture that Chad had no trouble figuring out.

"Is that a wildcat!?" Chad answered excitedly.

"_Technically_ it's a tiger, but…" Ryan shrugged facing forward again.

"That is _so_ cool!" The basketball player commented cutting him off and smiling widely.

"I thought you'd like it." Ryan agreed, mirroring Chad's smile. "So could you not throw it on the floor this time? It was $75…"

"You paid $75 for a shirt?" The darker boy stared in shock.

"It was the school colors!" The Drama King defended his shopping.

"Unbelievable…" Chad shook his head and chuckled. His dark brown eyes then travelled to stare at the patch of pale skin revealed from the two undone buttons on the blond's shirt, and then looked up at Ryan's face, pleading.

Knowing what the boy wanted, Ryan sighed and nodded. "Yes, you can go back to unbuttoning the shirt now."

"Yes!" Chad cheered softly to himself and excitedly went back to undoing the buttons.

Ryan giggled at the teen's enjoyment, before reminding him "remember, don't throw the—" The blond cut himself off with a moan when Chad started nibbling and licking on the exposed skin shown by each undone white button.

Glancing up at the panting boy's face from his kneeling position halfway down the shirt, Chad grinned satisfied. "Like I said, I _love_ these button-down shirts!"

When the basketball player reached his belly button, Ryan's hands shot out to once again grip the boy's curly dark hair in an effort to gain some control. "Can you please hurry up?" He almost hissed, trying not to cry out at the sensations Chad was forcing on the sensitive area.

"Nope." The teen cheerfully replied, purposefully not moving down to the next button on the shirt and continuing to tease the pale skin.

"What?" Ryan gasped, his voice sounding a little higher than normal in effort to still not let out the groan he knew Chad was trying to get from him again.

Playful dark eyes met hazing light blue as Chad explained to him "this is revenge for all those insults you kept giving me earlier!"

"Oh come on!" Ryan complained, coming out sounding almost like a sob, and bringing his head back a bit harshly against the locker behind him.

"Maybe you'll think before picking on me so much next time?" He chided the other boy, in a tone reminiscent of a parent talking to a child.

"_Not likely_." Ryan spat glaring frustrated at the ceiling.

Chad chuckled slightly shaking his head, unintentionally torturing the boy more when his curls brushed against the pale exposed stomach. "So stubborn…"

"_Please_ Chad!" The blond begged, resisting the urge to pull on Chad's hair knowing that would do anything but what he wanted.

"Well since you said please…" The darker boy conceded and quickly undid the last few buttons, and ran his hands along Ryan's bare sides as he stood.

"_Finally_," Ryan exclaimed, quickly pulling the other in for a deep kiss as Chad pulled off his shirt.

"You're so impatient!" Chad laughed in-between the other's aggressive kissing tossing the shirt onto the bench as the shorter boy started pushing him towards the opposite wall.

"That better not wrinkle." Ryan muttered eyes closed as he started sucking on parts of the darker boy's shoulder.

"You want to stop and go over to fold it?"

"…no."

"I didn't think so—hey!" Chad suddenly pushed the other boy away to look at his face.

"What now?" Ryan whined, pouting at the other boy.

Chad's eyes twinkled mischievously. "I just got an idea: do you think the showers still work this late?"

"The showers?" The Drama King smiled eyebrows raised appreciatively at the idea.

"Since the lights are still working and everything?" Chad continued grinning.

"I don't know, maybe." Ryan replied interested.

"Wanna go see?" He smirked at the blond suggestively.

"Well it does stink in here, and I'd like to leave smelling clean…" The Drama King agreed off-handedly, taking his cell phone out of his pocket and tossing it onto his shirt on the bench.

"Okay that's it!" Chad shook his head and suddenly lifted the blond off the ground.

"Woah! What are you doing?" Ryan shrieked and struggled to get down off Chad's shoulder.

"That's the last jock insult you're making Ryan." The basketball player informed as he carried the theatre boy without trouble into the rather large showers near the front of the locker-room.

"Let me down!" Ryan yelled unable to think of anything else as he tried to wriggle out of the strong boy's grip on him.

"Not yet…" Chad smiled as he started to twist one of the knobs on from the side. Once water starting shooting out from the showerhead, he brought the other boy down. "Okay, here we go…!"

Ryan was shoved so the pounding water hit directly onto his back as Chad held him by the arms so he couldn't move from his spot—right in the middle of the spray.

"AHH! _Omigosh__ that's _**cold**!" Ryan shrieked as he felt thousands of tiny droplets attacking his back.

"It'll warm up." Chad laughed at the boy's discomfort.

"CHAD!" The Drama King yelled through gritted teeth.

"Any minute now…" Chad assured, though still chuckling.

"_Chad…_" The blond started to shout, but trailed off at less cold water flowed out.

"Warmer now…?" The darker boy asked smiling.

Ryan glared back at him. "That. Was. Mean."

"Actually, I thought it was pretty funny…" Chad laughed freely again.

"That's it!" Ryan declared frustrated and started to walk away.

"Aw, come on Ryan!" Chad quickly reached out an arm around the other's waist and pulled the blond back against him. "What you said was pretty mean too. Can't we call it even?" Ryan refused to look at him. Chad noticed the bulge still in the other's white pants—much more noticeable now that the pants were soaked through—and brought one of his hands wrapped around the blond to the front of the pants. "_Please?"_

"That's cheating!" Ryan protested trying to remove the other's hand while blushing.

"I prefer 'sneaky'…" Chad smiled into the other's neck.

Ryan spun around to face the other. "You _suck_ at comebacks."

"I do not!" Chad pouted, before tugging the other close up against him again with a grin.

"Whatever you say…" Ryan rolled his eyes, before pushing them both back under the now warm spray and kissing Chad. After a few minutes of licking, touching, and biting, Ryan noticed something that made him pull away and start laughing. "Chad…"

"What? What's so funny?" Chad raised an eyebrow.

"Y-your hair!" Ryan told him between giggles. "It looks like it deflated!"

"_Ryan!_" He pushed the giggling boy against the shower wall in embarrassment, away from the water but still fairly surrounded by the steam.

"I'm sorry…" Ryan tried to calm his laughs.

Chad studied the boy surprised for a second, before smiling. "Well at least I got an apology out of you."

To which Ryan slapped Chad's upper arm and pulled him closer. "Get over here."

It was when Chad was already grinding Ryan against the tiled wall that the two were interrupted again. Pausing mid-bite in the crook of the blond's shoulder, Chad heard through the spray of the shower one of the last voices he wanted to hear.

"Yo, Chad! You in here?"

"_Please_ tell me that isn't Troy Bolton!" Ryan whispered harshly in his ear, tightening his grip on Chad's dark shoulders.

* * *

Please don't forget to review! Reviews make better stories! 


	3. Friendships and Relationships

**Pairing**: Chyan. And the lack of Chyan fics was the single reason for writing this.

**Warning: **Rated M for a reason. Slash or boyxboy romance is happening in this fic. Again, nobody's pants come completely off, so I don't believe I'm breaking any rules, but it does get fairly detailed enough to warrant an M rating.

**A/N**: The fact that there are only 11 Chyan fics to my knowledge was the sole motivation for writing this one-shot (which has been split into three parts purely for the convience of the reader not having to read 22 pages in one sitting), even though I'm in the middle of writing a fairly long fic with this pairing already. The plot is mostly romance, although I did throw Troy and Chad's friendship in there for a bit of angst too because I can't write pure fluff or slash for that matter. But it's mostly just ChadxRyan to hopefully encourage some more authors to write the pairing.

* * *

**Secret Game**

**By: **StillThereForMe

**Part 3/3**

* * *

_"Yo, Chad! You in here?"_

_"Please tell me that isn't Troy Bolton!" Ryan whispered harshly in his ear, tightening his grip on Chad's dark shoulders._

* * *

"Chad? I called your house and you didn't pick up. You still here?" 

"Nope that's him." Chad sighed frustrated, before calling loudly towards the shower entrance. "Hold on a sec, Troy! I'm in the shower, I'll be over in a minute!"

"You'll be _what?_" Ryan demanded whispering.

"If I don't go over there, he's going to come check in here! Do you want Troy to see you like this?" Chad countered in a whisper, tugging off his shoes and socks as he did.

Ryan looked away frowning heavily. "I hate him…"

"Yes, how dare he come check up on a sick friend. What a bastard." Chad replied sarcastically in the same low voice, before going to grab one of the towels on the side and wrap it to hide his very wet red shorts still on his waist.

"Just don't take too long." Ryan muttered so softly Chad almost didn't hear him.

He rushed over as fast as he could on the wet floor; and made it to the entrance of the showers miraculously without slipping. He saw Troy looking confusedly down at Ryan's shirt and phone on the bench by Chad's locker and immediately a rush of fear ran through him, and he hoped with everything in him that Troy didn't recognize who either of the items belonged to.

"Uh, Troy?" Chad cleared his throat to get his best friend's attention.

Troy spun around surprised to face Chad. "Oh, Chad, there you are. Um, yeah, I thought you were heading home?"

"I am…but I decided to take a shower first to uh,…clear my head." Chad thought up on the spot.

"Oh…" Troy nodded, seeming nervous. "I thought the walk home was supposed to clear your head?"

"Yeah!" Chad nodded suddenly. "But, I figured, you know, warm air then cool air…you know would sort of double the chances…"

"Oh," Troy nodded again, not meeting his friend's eyes. "I guess that makes sense…"

"Yeah…" Chad found he couldn't look Troy in the face either. "So um, what're you doing back here?"

"I said before…I called your house and no one picked up, so I asked my dad to drive me back to make sure you were alright." Troy informed almost sadly, forcing his gaze to look his friend in the eye. "You know it's been two hours?"

"Really?" Chad asked, guilt shooting through him. "I didn't realize…"

"It's really not good to be in the shower that long…" Troy told him, although Chad could tell from his friend's eyes that Troy really didn't believe Chad was telling him the truth.

"Well, I was going to start walking home a while ago, but I kept getting dizzy when I was walking after a few minutes, and I only thought of the shower thing about I guess, 15 minutes ago." It scared Chad how easy it was to think up a lie to tell Troy. "So I should be fine."

"You want me to drive you home then?" Troy asked concerned. "If it's that bad, I mean…"

"No! No, man I promise I'll be fine." Chad tried to assure him.

"You said that before, and then two hours later I find you still in here!" Troy countered angrily. "Chad if something's really wrong with you, you shouldn't be walking around by yourself! And your parents didn't even pick up the phone when I called, and they didn't come to the game so they probably aren't even home right?"

"…no they're at a wedding out of state." Chad mumbled.

"Then you probably shouldn't even go to your house! If you're really sick, Chad, you should just come home with me." Troy yelled, though even then his voice still sounded concerned.

"Troy, aren't you supposed to be at the diner with Gabriella? Did something happen?" Chad guessed at his friend's mood.

"That's not what we're talking about right now!" Troy shouted back, and Chad guessed he was right.

"You guys have a fight?"

"No! Although _Taylor_ was pretty upset to not see you there." Troy shot back. He then suddenly got very calm, staring at Chad, and softly added "…Ryan wasn't there either."

"What does Ryan have to do with me?" Chad immediately asked nervously.

Troy looked at his friend, before turning away. "Nothing I guess." The brown haired boy took a deep sigh before continuing. "It's just Chad, I'm really worried about you okay?"

"Dude, I'm fine! I promise, okay, you call my house in an hour and if I'm not there, you have permission to come in here and drag me into your car by my hair." Chad assured.

"You promise?" Troy checked, pointing at his best friend.

"I swear, okay?" Chad convinced him. "One hour, you call."

Troy was quiet and nodded. "Okay, I'll give you an hour. You _better_ be at your house by then, you got it?"

"Got it, Captain." Chad saluted with a grin.

"Okay, I'm calling you in an hour then." Troy warned as he headed for the door.

"I'll be there!" Chad called as Troy left the room.

"…your parents aren't home?" Ryan commented, leaning against the doorway to the showers—which Chad noticed he didn't hear running anymore.

"Yup. My house is about fifteen minutes from here, so we've got fourty-five to dry off and get there before he calls." Chad informed with less enthusiasm than Ryan would've liked.

The blond walked over and touched the boy's arm. "You okay Chad?"

"Yeah, I just don't like lying to him. Especially when he knows I'm lying…" Chad frowned, eyes distant.

"You want to tell him?" Ryan asked cautiously, half-dreading the reply.

"Oh god no." Chad widened his eyes as he imagined his friend's reaction. "I've just never had to lie to him about anything before this…"

Seeing his boyfriend's depressed look, Ryan couldn't help but feel guilty. "I'm sorry…"

Chad looked at the blond and smiled. "Wow, two apologies in one day!"

Ryan rolled his eyes. "And _just_ when I thought we were having a serious conversation!" The boy started to strut off and get Chad's socks and shoes from the showers.

"Hold on, hold on," Chad grabbed the other boy's wrist and pulled him back to face him. "It's not your fault Ryan. I like what we have. I wouldn't want to trade it for anything. It's just I don't like lying to Troy—and hopefully one day, I'll be sure he'll be okay with it and I won't have to. But don't feel guilty about it now okay? It's not your fault. My boyfriend and my best friend, two different people who both mean a lot to me, I just don't want to lose either one."

"Boyfriend. I think that's the first time you've called me that." Ryan smiled somewhat conceitedly.

"Well, that's what you are, right?" Chad smiled back at him.

"Yeah, but it's nice to hear it." Ryan fought down the corny grin that wanted to run across his face. "So, how do you propose we dry off?"

"Well, we could strip off all our clothes and stand under the hand dryers or rub each other with towels…" Chad quickly suggested grinning.

"See? So perverted." Ryan shook his head in mock shame.

"Excuse me!" The darker boy protested. "Who was the one shoving his hand down my pants a little while ago?"

"That would be me." The blond informed proudly.

"That's what I thought." Chad muttered and pulled the smaller boy closer into a kiss, and then a hug. "Love you."

"I would hope so." Ryan smirked.

"Excuse me?" Chad looked down in shock for probably the hundredth time that night.

"Don't worry, I love you too. It's just that's really odd timing to say it don't you think?" Ryan raised an eyebrow in challenge at the other.

"You can't let me get away with anything can you?"

"Nope. Not really." Ryan kissed Chad.

* * *

That's all! Ending written at 2:30 in the morning because I wanted to get it finished. Hopefully it didn't come out too bad... Entire thing was written in about two days not even, purely for the fact that I was hoping this would encourage people to write more Chyans (i realized there really weren't any simple PWP stories for this couple, so I tried my hand at writing one), so if you don't want to review, just write a Chyan fic instead! Or do both. Thanks for reading! 

So please review or write a Chyan.

Will go back to working on "My Best Friend's Secret" ch. 7 now.


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